


Pieces of Me

by fupette



Category: NCIS
Genre: Bad Days, Help, Home, Homelessness, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Protective Jethro Gibbs, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-20
Packaged: 2021-03-27 03:08:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30116250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fupette/pseuds/fupette
Summary: Ellie struggles with the practical implications from her divorce. After a succession of bad luck, will she accept the help of her teammates and friends?
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> English is my first language, all spellings and grammar issues are my own fault. Irish spellings is how my brain is wired & my spell check is configured!

“Night guys, see ye tomorrow” Ellie waved her colleagues away, she was close to finishing the last of her paperwork, she reckoned one more tepid cup of coffee would be enough fuel to allow her power through the last monotonous pages of her after-action report, she wouldn't have Tim and Tony's banter distracting her, lulling her into their easy camaraderie, sidetracking her from the job at hand.

In truth she preferred the office at this late hour, this was the sweet spot for her at work, actual peace and quiet in the bullpen, now devoid of her colleagues (which would last until the cleaning staff would arrive). She’d finish typing the rest of her report before braving the cold Washington D.C. weather. She was eager to make her continued contribution to her team's reporting backlog, but not at the expense of her own paperwork. Her habit now was clearing out her own case files on a same-day basis, while it had proved arduous at first, it meant her work didn't need to leave the office.

Ellie stretched languorously to relieve the tension in her back, she could feel the additional hours hunched over her computer in her stiff back. The rigid set of her shoulders sagged as she switched her computer off, relieved that she had tackled her stack of paperwork. She stifled a yawn, while she slowly reached for her go-bag before ensuring her notepad was securely locked in her pedestal. After a long day’s work she was happy for her autopilot to kick in, easily navigating the dark of the office parking structure to her waiting truck. Feeling more than the evening chill in the air, she rummaged around looking for her warm overcoat, some how this felt colder than a mid-western winter. 

As she pulled out of the basement parking lot, she noticed that the light snow from this morning had metamorphosed into full-on winter wonderland territory, with snowdrifts forming at the side of the road. The late hour and inclement weather gave the environs of the Navy Yard, a ghost town vibe. Ellie manoeuvred her car carefully through the deserted streets, chiding herself about not being organised with snow tires. She drove carefully thankful that she’d visited the laundromat yesterday, she could hold off grocery shopping until tomorrow, she was too tired to bother with it at the moment. She knew she had no real distance to go for her usual parking space and with no further jobs that she needed to accomplish tonight, she would grab as much rest as possible; her body and mind weary from the day's travails. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The last splutter of tepid air from the air-con was futile against the chill of the cold night, as Ellie eased her truck into her usual parking space. She did not allow the car to idle, it was more important to conserve the fuel. She turned the ignition key off in a swift motion, she would warm herself up shortly. The electronics switched off automatically casting the car into darkness. She fixed her woolly hat down over her ears, sighing as she slipped gloves over her numb hands, stowing her car keys into the pocket of her bag, before vaulting herself onto her lowered passenger seat. 

Even after four months of sleeping in her car, she hadn’t quiet managed the art of wrestling a bundle of loose clothes into a comfortable makeshift pillow, she fumbled with her sleeping bag. First unfurling its bulk from the footwell, then fiddling with the zipper, the dexterity of her fingers were negated by the bulk of her gloves. Once ensconced in the warm tangle of material, she shimmed herself out of her overcoat, sad to get rid of the bulky warmth, but understanding that she’d need to ration her use of layers until the winter weather really hit the city. She curled herself into a tight ball wrapping herself in her sleeping bag conserving her body heat as best as she could. It wasn’t a set-up conducive to a great night’s sleep but she was in a relatively safe neighbourhood and she was thankful to have shelter from the outside weather, knowing that she could eke a couple of hours shuteye in the cushiony warmth of her sleeping bag. She closed her eyes and willed herself to drift into the oblivion of sleep.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

She had rested as much as possible, her sleep (as-always) was fitful, the noises of the alleyway would invariably disturb her each night. She was beginning to forget what a full night’s sleep was like, since joining Gibbs team, she was now used to late night stakeouts and the necessity of surviving on snatches of car-based sleep. Everything seemed so much harder now. The divorce had been a sucker punch. What had been a temporary measure when she moved out of her marital home, to the limbo of this ‘living-between-places’ state, was now her demoralising reality. The house hunting had not gone well, expense and location all conspiring against her best efforts. She needed to keep enough money in her bank account for a security deposit as well as the first and last month’s rent , a hotel room seemed like an impossible luxury, but if the weather got colder she might have no choice but to accept the additional expense. Now as the low morning sun filtered through her darkly tinted car-windows she was forced to face the day cold and unrefreshed wishing she could switch her mind from continuing to churn on her current predicament. She would direct her mental focus to her work, at least that was the one element in her life that wasn't currently in the doldrums.

She mused, the one benefit to her early start was that she’d have the gym and shower facilities to herself at work. She could freshen up in peace and eschew any awkward questions. This typically allowed her to feel slightly more human to face the day ahead, she might even get an hour of online house hunting, before the bustle of the morning workload would fully overtake her. She could brew her coffee and hopefully get a head start on the day’s work, thankful that she would be able to make a positive contribution to her team. She navigated the snowy streets slowly inching her car through the quiet calm streets finding her way back to the Navy Yard, retracing her last night’s route in reverse.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a calamitously bad day at work, despite her early start Ellie had quickly become mired in a pointless succession of lengthy old reports, until Gibbs ordered her to go with Tony on a routine case to pick up an AWOL sailor. Out of the office, Ellie had initially enjoyed their hunt for the missing Petty Officer, it was nice to get out of the city and visit their target's local haunts. Things took a swift turn when the happened upon their spooked sailor. She could scarcely recall a situation that had turned so abruptly in her brief tenure on the MCRT team. It was just her bad luck that an escaping suspect had thought ramming Tony’s car was a half-decent escape plan, changing the misdemeanour case into vehicular assault. She had seen the look of abject horror on Tony's face as the Petty Officer's car had careened into their service vehicle, the rest was a blur of screeching metal, a shower of glass and the acrid smell of burnt rubber. The entire passenger side of the car was now a complete mess. Ellie knew she was lucky that the crumple zones worked so efficiently, bearing the brunt of the car collision, but she was sore all over from the airbag. Much to her chagrin her ribs and face took a pounding, she could tell in the overly protective way Tony had pulled her out of the car wreck, he was worried about her injuries but the immediate danger was an engine fire. Apart from freshly tousled hair, Tony looked untouched by their car drama. Ellie's head throbbed in pain, everything was too bright and too loud, she let Tony drag her from the car. She couldn't help but lament that an analyst with a sore head would hardly be an asset to her team. She followed Tony's directions as they put some distance between themselves and their car wreck, her thoughts still centred on her sore head as she struggled to keep pace with her colleague. 

Ellie tried to listened to Tony as he directed McGee to put a BOLO out on the Petty Officer turned hit-and-run driver, on these icy roads, she hoped the local LEOs would tackle their escapee before he caused any further problems. She didn’t have the bandwidth to even consider what havoc their erstwhile escape artist could be reigning down on the unsuspecting public, Gibbs was going to be mad, this should have been a run-of-the-mill job, instead the situation had escalated, a wrecked car and an injured agent was a poor return on a cake-walk case 

Ellie found it hard to concentrate, the ringing bursts of noise in her ear were hampering her ability to eavesdrop on Tony's call. The crash had really rattled her brain, she thought Tony might have segued into complaining about his impending stack of paperwork, but she was struggling to maintain her train of thought, struggling to gauge if she should add her own assessment to Tim's debrief or let Tony's monologue continue. It struck her as her vision continued to swim, that the nauseated feeling in her stomach was because she had a concussion and couldn’t think clearly enough to figure out what she would do next. She was categorically not going to be damselling-in-distress for her work colleagues, she would need to power through this latest setback, through gritted teeth she steeled herself for the commotion that would ensue with the medic's arrival, even in her injured state she knew that standard protocols would need to be followed .

*********************************************************************************************************************************

Gibbs landed on the scene while the paramedics were checking over his two agents, he had made excellent time despite the snowy conditions. His keen investigatory senses took in the accident site, clocking the salient points almost implicitly. He was instantaneously relieved that Tony’s bulkier frame was in the driver seat, as he saw the smashed remnants of the passenger side. He studied the footprints in the snow, observing the the smaller uneven footsteps that lead to his youngest subordinate. His relieved feelings for his Senior Field Agent, were tempered as he observed the younger agent who looked pretty punch drunk from the impact of the airbags. This explained the ambling snowy footprints he’d noted earlier and the concerned looks Tony was casting in her direction. He knew the newest member of his team, was slow to admit any weakness, he was impressed by her singular work ethic but she needed to have trust in her team and her team mates, since her divorce she was drifting aimlessly away from the support of her colleagues, not a healthy way to cope with the stress of divorce and the upheaval from Jake’s infidelity.

Ellie's feeling of sickness had melted into pure disorientation, she tried to follow the medic’s directions, but it was hard to follow the words with the intermittent ringing noises echoing in her head, she missed Tony's inane chatter as he was having his own check-up. It didn’t help the penlight testing her pupil response was too bright, the light’s arcing motion seemed impossibly quick to follow. She watched distractedly as Tony seemed to be acing the same test she was currently trying for a third time. 

She knew her jangled brain was operating slower than usual, she also found her mind wandering more and more, She had spotted Gibbs walking the scene of the accident, which only made her feelings skew towards worry. It made her feel vulnerable that it was taking her more time to process even mundane requests, as the patient medic continued his assessment. She worried about what the paramedics would suggest, fearing the out of pocket medical expenses that might occur before her insurance kicked in. She worried if she could continue to obscure her living situation with an investigator as canny as Gibbs snooping around. She held onto her worry like a security blanket, without it she mused she would feel only despair. 

*********************************************************************************************************************************

Gibbs was talking animatedly to the lead paramedics, just a few steps from where he performed Ellie's checkup. Tony had returned from his own tests, continuing his earlier chit-chat, keen to keep his colleague alert and engaged in the present. Ellie worked to suppress a frustrated groan, she already knew she was having difficulty processing information but it appeared now that she was exhibiting some signs of memory loss or missing time. She knew that her colleagues would be hyper vigilant to ensure that her head trauma wan't serious, but the fact simply thinking was causing her a headache was an ominous sign 

_Had the paramedics finished with her already? When had Tony struck up this conversation? What was Gibbs going to do?_

She longed to be home in Oklahoma, with her parents where she wouldn’t have to make any judgement calls while her mind was so discombobulated. She dreamed wistfully of a warm bed and bath before she could focus her unruly mind back to Tony’s musing on the accident and the cold weather. She needed to keep a brave face in front of her colleagues but first she would have to convince the medics she didn’t need to be hospitalised. Suddenly it struck her that both Gibbs and Tony were focusing on her rather too intently, she wondered aimlessly was she failing their unspoken test as she no doubt failed the paramedic's tests. She brazened a smile on her face and prepared herself to assuage their well placed fears.

“Bishop, I reckon you have a concussion but these first responders are needed on another call, a school bus has crashed in the next county over. They’ve asked that you get checked out by a doctor to be sure you don’t have any other problems so that’s what we’ll do now”. 

Ellie followed her boss’s steady voice, grateful that the simple words were more a declaration of fact, rather than any pesky decision she would fumble over. She hadn't lied or said anything really, she just neglected to mention how badly her head hurt. She moved herself cautiously from the ambulance’s bay door, careful not to delay the crew members as they hurriedly packed up, clearly the inclement weather had increased their workload and the thoughts of injured kids would of course be a primary concern. A run-of-the-mill concussion clearly wasn’t a top priority much to Ellie’s relief. She didn’t feel like sharing the shameful secret with her teammates that Jake was still marked as her next-of-kin, she couldn’t stand the possibility of a hospital employee calling him, Jake was the last person she wan’t to see after all the recent agro with their divorce. She didn’t want him to know about her money troubles. At least in this current state she’d neatly avoid this possibility of needing to interact with her ex-husband. A check-up by Ducky seemed a much more manageable prospect. She’d tackle one problem at a time, her addled brain couldn't handle much more than that.

*********************************************************************************************************************************

Now that she was standing a fresh bloom of pain washed over Ellie's body, she hesitated briefly before making her way over to Gibb’s car feeling ungainly in her own body, as if she was unused to the simultaneous difficulties of walking and thinking. She steeled herself to keep her poker face on as she mechanically put one foot in front of the other. Tony gallantly rushed ahead (clearly feeling no ill effects from the crash) to open the car door. Gibbs continued to match her slow pace without comment, essentially escorting her to the car. 

Both agents noted Ellie’s struggle to get into the carseat. Gibbs was beginning to think his youngest agent might have injured ribs on top of the suspected concussion. He watched the tight grimace of pain cross her features as she put on her seatbelt, he made a mental note that they would take a slow drive on the long route back home to avoid the jostling backroads of his trademark shortcuts. Gibbs filled Tony in on his plan, discreetly asking him to keep the scene secure for Abby and get a lift back with the Forensic Team once her fieldwork was complete. He had already tasked McGee with collecting Ducky to facilitate the mandated doctor’s check-up. Even if Ellie was resistant to asking for help, he knew her teammates would be anxious to pull together for a common cause. 

Ellie was surprised when Gibbs avoided the office and drove straight back to his house, she had been wondering why Tony remained at the crime-scene. The nagging voice in the back of her mind thinking she could have waited there instead of inconveniencing her boss, intruding on his home. He had ushered her into his spartan front room, before she had formulated these questions fully, unable to marshal her thoughts coherently to the forefront of her mind. She wasn’t sure if Gibbs knew about her living situation, but she had her suspicions. She knew that he’d know her personnel file had not been updated recently (no change in her home address). She couldn’t tell if her boss’s current masterplan was a happy accident or planned with meticulous forethought by her all-seeing-all-knowing supervisor.

“Bishop, you sit down there before you fall down, I’ll get the first aid kit, I’m expecting Ducky any moment now”. Gibbs crouched low to make eye contact, his eyes watching her shrewdly, his investigator brain taking in all the context clues. He deftly captured Ellie’s straying hand, returning it to her lap before she could probe the cuts on her sore hairline. “Leave it until the Doc checks it out please, okay Ellie?.”


End file.
